18 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tudoresque, double-fronted two storey house with large gabled half dormers and tall prominent chimney stacks, one of a broken terrace of former estate workers’ cottages of c.1840, originally containing eight small dwellings, a smithy and a store. The whole grouping was acquired by Hearth and renovated in 1983-84, when each pair of houses were amalgamated to form four larger properties (of which this is one), with the smithy and the store converted into two further dwellings. In the process the redundant doorways to the front were made into small windows and another large gable was added to the rear of all houses. The buildings are set on the S side of Main Street, near the centre of the small village of Seaforde. There is an open lawn to front and enclosed gardens to the rear. This particular house is to the W end of the shorter western terrace. To the W it abuts a larger two storey public house.

The front façade faces N and is asymmetrical. Slightly to the left of centre is a timber sheeted door. To the left and to the right of this is a relatively large three light casement window with four (vertically arranged) panes to each light. To the far right, (where there used to be a doorway), is a smaller window in similar style. To the first floor (within the large gabled half-dormers) are two further casement windows, similar to previous.

To the rear there is a timber sheeted door with a small casement window to either side. To the first floor left there is a half-dormer with window, all as front.

The façade is rendered and painted. The gabled roof is covered in natural slate with two Velux windows to the rear. Large central chimney stack with three tall pots positioned in ‘diamond’ formation. Metal rw goods.

Historical information

The (broken) terrace to which this property belongs was built in c.1840 for Forde estate workers, replacing some modest single storey cottages recorded in the 1836 valuation. The whole grouping originally consisted of eight small dwellings, with a larger smithy and store. In the mid 20th century the buildings gradually became vacant and fell in disrepair, with the smithy virtually derelict by 1970. By the mid 1970s the entire lot had been acquired by Hearth Housing Trust and was completely renovated in 1983-84. In the process each pair of houses were combined to make four larger properties and the smithy and store both converted to dwellings. The redundant doorways to front were made into small windows and the archways to the store and smithy fitted with conventional house doors. At the rear new gables were added.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.366 Forde papers
2 PRONI OS/6/3/37/1 OS map, Down sh 37, 1834
3 PRONI VAL/1B/387 1st valuation, Loughinisland, 1836 [This valuation gives details of the houses previously on the site.]
4 PRONI VAL/1D/3/19 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1836-38
5 PRONI 2nd valuation, Loughinisland, c.1860 [in print]
6 PRONI VAL/2D/3/14 Valuation plan of Seaforde, c.1860
7 PRONI OS/8/152/1 OS plan of Seaforde, 1904
8 Belfast and Province of Ulster directory (Belfast News-Letter), 1925-
9 PRONI VAL/3G/95/1 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1935-56

Secondary sources
1 C.E.B. Brett ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings….East Down’ (Belfast UAHS 1973), pp.32, 34
2 ‘Hearth- A review of projects 1999’ (Hearth 1999), p.7

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Tudoresque, double-fronted two storey house with large gabled half dormers and tall prominent chimney stacks, one of a fine broken terrace of former estate workers’ cottages of c.1840, originally containing eight small dwellings, a smithy and a store. The whole grouping was acquired by Hearth and renovated in 1983-84, when each pair of houses were amalgamated to form four larger properties (of which this is one), with the smithy and the store converted into two further dwellings. In the process the redundant doorways to the front were made into small windows and another gable was added to the rear of each house.